The Flash/Arrow Double Feature: "The Fury of Firestorm" and "Beyond Redemption"

This week's The Flash introduced us to a new Firestorm and we got an excellent episode of Arrow centered around Captain Lance.

The Flash: "The Fury of Firestorm" (Season 2, Episode 4)

Quick Recap: An opening flashback introduces us to Jefferson "Jax" Jackson, who, on the night of the particle accelerator explosion, has scored a game-winning touchdown for his team and his coach promises him he'll get to live his dream. When the explosion erupts, Jay is grazed by a wave of dark matter and is injured. In present day, Dr. Stein's condition is growing worse. Caitlin and Cisco have figured out that he has gone too long without merging and that a new partner for the Firestorm matrix must be found. They narrow it down to to two candidates who share Ronnie's abilities of transmutation: Jackson and a scientist named Henry Hewitt. Hewitt is excited by the chance to work with Stein and the Firestorm matrix, but when the two try to merge, Hewitt is revealed to be incompatible. Jackson, now a mechanic after his dream-dashing injury, refuses to help. He finds the whole thing crazy and isn't all that interested in being a hero. However, he reconsiders once Hewitt begins to wreak havoc on the city, his powers awakened by the failed merge. Jackson merges with Stein, the two becoming Firestorm and defeat Hewitt with help form Barry. Stein and Jackson leave the city to hone their powers. While going for a late-night run, Barry is attacked by King Shark, whom he and Patty were tracking earlier. Shark is zapped unconscious by a man in a hoodie, and Barry catches up to him. The man reveals himself as Harrison Wells.

Thoughts:

• This episode was fine, but it was a bit too predictable and some of the story pieces didn't fit together nicely.
• Franz Drameh plays Jackson well, and his conflict was a relatable one. That conflict, though, was really predictable. There was no drama when he initially refused since everybody knew he'd come back and become Firestorm. 
• Hewitt was an awfully written character. The minute I got the impression he wasn't exactly the nicest guy, he was out of the running. Him getting powers was an okay little twist, but way too convenient. His motives for going all crazy were muddled, as well. I mean, he's very sane to begin with, but he fails the Firestorm audition and gets some powers and now he's a madman. Come on, writers! I know you can do better than this!
• The drama involving the West family feels out of place, though the performances from Candice Patton, Jesse L. Martin and Vanessa Williams are great. Now that it's been revealed that Iris has a brother, all this drama seems like it's just a means to an end to introduce Wally West. It's exciting, but could have been done better.
• This may sound dark, but Iris demanding to her mother that she leave even after learning about her terminal illness, was an interesting development. It's a darkly refreshing change of routine for this show as well as Arrow.
• KING SHARK. 

Rating: 6.6/10 nerd chants

Next week, Central City gets another visitor from Earth-2...

Arrow: "Beyond Redemption" (Season 4, Episode 4)

Quick Recap: A SWAT team storms a drug hideout just before two detectives arrive at the scene, and are promptly killed by the SWATs. Oliver announces his desire to run for mayor to the team, who have mixed feelings. He then shows them their new hideout, which is hidden beneath Oliver's campaign office. There, they are alerted to the deaths of the two detectives. Oliver, Diggle, and Thea go to investigate and locate the killers' base, where they find SWAT gear and weapons. Meanwhile, Laurel brings her father down to her apartment's basement, where she has hidden the resurrected and feral Sara. Lance reacts with shock, then happiness, then shock again after Sara attacks Laurel. Oliver later visits Lance and tells him about his mayoral run and breaks the news that the people who killed the two detectives were police officers. Lance wants to see for himself and accompanies the team to an ambush on the killers, where he sees for himself that Oliver was telling the truth. Lance allows the team access to the police surveillance cameras. While gleaning through the feeds, Oliver and Felicity spot footage of Lance meeting with Darhk. Lance went to Darhk for advice on Sara's condition, where Darhk urged Lance to kill her again to end her suffering. Oliver confronts Lance and Lance reveals how he came into contact with Darhk and how Darhk is using Laurel as leverage over him. Later, Lance goes back to Laurels'basement and is about to kill Sara when Laurel intervenes. Lance breaks down and tries to leave, but is captured by the rogue officers and taken to their base. Team Arrow tracks them down and battles them. Their leader is about to kill Oliver when Lance steps in and tells her that, though she has been forced to do horrible things, she isn't beyond redemption. She surrenders and Oliver mends things with Lance, who will now be working from the inside to take down Darhk. Oliver makes his announcement speech to the press about his running for mayor, and Laurel finds out that Sara has escaped.

Thoughts:

•  I think this is the first time we've gotten an episode that kind of delved into the complex relationship between Lance and Oliver, so this episode had a lot of interesting content work with. I especially liked Oliver's confession to Lance about what he's always wanted: to be a good man in his eyes. 
• Paul Blackthorne definitely turned in the best performance he's given for this show so far. His confrontation with Oliver (Stephen Amell gave an awesome performance there too) and his scenes with the reborn Sara being the standouts.
• So Lance has been working as a double agent within the police force for Darhk, but now he's a double agent within Darhk's inner circle for Team Arrow. To quote Indiana Jones, "What are you? A triple agent?"
• Rutina Wesley was great as Liza Warner, the SWAT leader. 
• Felicity and Curtis' scenes were fun, but didn't add anything to the episode's story or theme. 
• Damien Darhk only had one full scene this week, but Neal McDonough still completely nailed it. It's also good to see that the writers aren't feeling obligated to have him play a huge role in every episode.
• What's in the box, Damien? WHAT'S IN THE BOX?
• The new Arrowcave looks cool, but there are some aspects that are just corny to me, like the cases that hold their outfits and their revolving doors. Someone had a bit too much fun building this place.
• There's gotta be more to those power problems, though. Amirite?
• Laurel isn't keeping secrets from Lance anymore, but what about Oliver? He deserves to know that Sara's alive. Yep, Laurels' still the worst.

Rating: 9.3/10 speeches that reference the opening monologue

Next week, Matt Ryan reprises his role as John Constantine from the cancelled Constantine series to help Team Arrow with their Sara problem.

Noah